Identifying Risk Factors and Solutions

This assignment builds on the research that you did for Human Health and Physiology. For this assignment, you will be focusing on one health condition that you identified in your role as a medical specialist. If you identified multiple health conditions, select the one that you think is of greatest concern for your community ((Arleta, El Monte, West Athens, West Whittier, Boyle Heights).

Assignment Requirements

Part 1: Identifying Social and Environmental Risk Factors

1. What is the community and the health condition that you will be focusing on for this project? 
2. Identify all of the social and environmental risk factors from the list below that you believe are relevant to your health condition. (You should have at least two for full credit.) Explain how each risk factor is relevant to your health condition, including at least one in-text citation for each risk factor and a properly formatted reference list at the end.
   • Access to grocery stores and farmers markets – # of grocery stores and farmers’ markets within a half-mile
   • Supermarket access – % of people in urban areas who live within a half-mile of a supermarket/large grocery store
   • Alcohol availability – % of people who live within ¼ mile of a store that sells alcohol
   • Binge drinking – % of adults who drank 5 or more alcoholic drinks (men) or 4 or more alcoholic drinks (women) at least once within the past month
   • Current smoker – % of adults who currently smoke
   • Near-roadway pollution – % of population living within 200 meters of a high-traffic road with more than 25,000 vehicles per day
   • Clean air – diesel PM – average daily amount of particulate pollution (very small particles) from diesel sources
   • Clean air – PM 2.5 – yearly average of fine particulate matter concentration (very small particles from vehicle tailpipes, tires and brakes, power plants, factories, burning wood, construction dust, and many other sources)
   • Tree canopy (HPI) – % of land with tree canopy (weighted by number of people per acre)
   • Access to parks – # of parks within a half-mile
   • Park access – % of population who live within a half-mile of a park, beach, or open space greater than 1 acre
   • Walk trips – Estimated # of walks around the neighborhood per household per day
   • No leisure time physical activity – % of people who do not exercise or participate in physical activities (outside of their regular job)
3. Using your answer to #2, you are now going to analyze data showing the prevalence of these risk factors in several communities. Which risk factors are of highest concern in your community compared to other communities? Explain using the data.

Part 2: Proposing A Solution

1. Preview the websites of the organizations and programs in the list below. Based on your health condition and the risk factors you identified in Part 1, which one of these could most improve health outcomes in your focal community? (Select only one organization/program.)
   • Los Angeles Play Streets Program (Links to an external site.)
   • Mobile Recreation Program (Links to an external site.)
   • City Plants (Links to an external site.)
   • LA Quits (Links to an external site.)
   • Gangsta Gardening (Links to an external site.)
2. What is the community-focused solution being implemented by this organization or program? Which of the risk factors that you identified in Part 1 Question 3 would this solution best address in your focal community? (You will be focusing on this risk factor for the duration of the Community Health Project.)
3. How would this solution address the identified risk factor and decrease the prevalence of the health condition? To effectively advocate for this solution, you will need to research the physiological connection between the risk factor and your health condition. Explain what is known about how this risk factor contributes to the development of the health condition. Use at least two reputable sources in your explanation. Be sure to include in-text citations and a full reference list at the end for full credit.

   Example: Planting trees provides more shade and limits exposure to UV radiation (Parisi & Turnbull, 2014). UV radiation is a risk factor for skin cancer (ACS, 2019). UV radiation directly damages DNA and causes mutations to p53 tumor suppressor genes. When p53 genes are mutated, they can no longer repair DNA, leading to the further accumulation of mutations. This accumulation of mutations can lead to uncontrolled cell division and ultimately cause skin cancer (Narayanan et al., 2010).

Submission Guidelines

Upload your answers for Part 1 and Part 2 of this assignment as a Word document or as a pdf. Please clearly number your answers.